Deep Learning-based Binary Analysis for Vulnerability Detection in x86-64 Machine Code

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteur principal: Petingola, Mitchell
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2026
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author Petingola, Mitchell
author_facet Petingola, Mitchell
contents While much of the current research in deep learning-based vulnerability detection relies on disassembled binaries, this paper explores the feasibility of extracting features directly from raw x86-64 machine code. Although assembly language is more interpretable for humans, it requires more complex models to capture token-level context. In contrast, machine code may enable more efficient, lightweight models and preserve all information that might be lost in disassembly. This paper approaches the task of vulnerability detection through an exploratory study on two specific deep learning model architectures and aims to systematically evaluate their performance across three vulnerability types. The results demonstrate that graph-based models consistently outperform sequential models, emphasizing the importance of control flow relationships, and that machine code contains sufficient information for effective vulnerability discovery.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_09157
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Deep Learning-based Binary Analysis for Vulnerability Detection in x86-64 Machine Code
Petingola, Mitchell
Cryptography and Security
Machine Learning
While much of the current research in deep learning-based vulnerability detection relies on disassembled binaries, this paper explores the feasibility of extracting features directly from raw x86-64 machine code. Although assembly language is more interpretable for humans, it requires more complex models to capture token-level context. In contrast, machine code may enable more efficient, lightweight models and preserve all information that might be lost in disassembly. This paper approaches the task of vulnerability detection through an exploratory study on two specific deep learning model architectures and aims to systematically evaluate their performance across three vulnerability types. The results demonstrate that graph-based models consistently outperform sequential models, emphasizing the importance of control flow relationships, and that machine code contains sufficient information for effective vulnerability discovery.
title Deep Learning-based Binary Analysis for Vulnerability Detection in x86-64 Machine Code
topic Cryptography and Security
Machine Learning
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.09157